Brand Typography Guide
Typography is a crucial part of your visual identity. Learn how to choose fonts that reflect your personality and improve readability.
Typography is a crucial part of your visual identity. The fonts you choose communicate your brand personality before customers even read the words. Good typography improves readability, builds trust, and reinforces your brand message.
This guide is part of our Brand Expression series. We'll walk you through choosing typography that reflects your personality and improves readability.
Font Categories
Serif
Traditional, formal, trustworthy
Best For:
Examples: Times New Roman, Georgia, Merriweather
Sans Serif
Modern, clean, approachable
Best For:
Examples: Helvetica, Arial, Inter, Roboto
Script
Elegant, creative, personal
Best For:
Examples: Brush Script, Pacifico, Dancing Script
Display
Bold, attention-grabbing, unique
Best For:
Examples: Bebas Neue, Oswald, Montserrat
How to Choose Your Brand Typography
Start with Your Brand Personality
Your typography should reflect your brand personality. Formal brands need formal fonts.
Action: Review your brand personality. What fonts align with those traits?
Choose a Primary Font
Select one primary font for headlines and key messaging. This is your brand font.
Action: Choose 1 font that best represents your brand. Test it in different sizes and contexts.
Choose a Secondary Font
Select a complementary font for body text. It should pair well with your primary font.
Action: Choose 1-2 secondary fonts for body text. Ensure they're readable and pair well with primary.
Test Readability
Ensure your fonts are readable across devices and sizes. Test on mobile, tablet, and desktop.
Action: Test fonts at different sizes. Check readability on different devices. Ensure accessibility.
Document Usage Guidelines
Create guidelines for when to use each font, sizes, and spacing. Document everything.
Action: Create a typography guide. Define sizes, weights, spacing, and usage rules. See our brand guidelines tool.
Next Steps
Once you've chosen your typography, you're ready to move forward with the rest of your brand expression. Learn about developing your complete brand expressionor use our brand guidelines tool to document your typography choices.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many fonts should I use in my brand?
Most successful brands use 1-2 fonts (a primary font for headlines and a secondary font for body text). More than 3 fonts becomes hard to manage and can look chaotic. Focus on a cohesive typography system that works well together. You can use different weights (bold, regular, light) of the same font family to create variety without adding complexity.
Should I use web fonts or system fonts?
Web fonts (like Google Fonts) give you more control and consistency across devices, but they can slow down your website. System fonts load faster but are limited to what's available on each device. For most brands, web fonts are the better choice because they ensure consistency. Just make sure to optimize font loading to minimize performance impact.
How do I pair fonts effectively?
Good font pairing creates contrast while maintaining harmony. Pair a serif with a sans serif, or a display font with a simple sans serif. Avoid pairing fonts that are too similar (they'll compete) or too different (they'll clash). Test combinations by using them together in real content. If it looks good and reads well, it's a good pairing.
How do I ensure my typography is accessible?
Ensure sufficient contrast between text and background (at least 4.5:1 for normal text, 3:1 for large text). Use readable font sizes (at least 16px for body text). Avoid using all caps for long blocks of text. Test with screen readers. Provide sufficient line spacing (at least 1.5x font size). Use tools like WebAIM Contrast Checker to test accessibility.
Ready to Choose Your Brand Typography?
Once you've chosen your typography, bring your complete brand expression to life with Magnt's AI-powered branding tools.
Related Articles
Brand Expression Guide
Complete guide to developing your visual identity and messaging framework.
How to Choose Brand Colors
Learn how to choose brand colors that reflect your personality and resonate with customers.
Creating Consistent Brand Identity
Learn how to maintain brand consistency across all touchpoints.